Chapter One – Village Hidden in the Mind
When future generations look back on the great war that united the five nations they will fondly remember the names of the heroes that fought so bravely to defend the peace of the land. What they will not recall however is the names of the three shinobi that gave everything to resist the greatest threat the ninja world has ever known.
Torches lined the walls of the room providing little light and heat in the vast stone building, the ceiling formed a dome forming at a point far above the large stone table stationed at the centre of the room. A hooded man stood at the top of the table putting two bony fingers to the neck of a lifeless man sprawled on the table, a grunt of disgust from the hooded man was quickly followed by the creaking of a small wooden door being opened. A man taller than most by a head entered the room adjusting his red robe with markings of black skulls, he considered at the hooded man who simply shook his head whilst observing the lifeless body. The tall man's face quickly turned to a smirk as he brushed his hands through his unkempt purple hair, "so how many failures is this then" laughed the tall man "three?" The tall man's face quickly turned to ice as the hooded man dropped to his knees and began to plead "please master give me another chance I promise it will work next time, please just don't kill me". The tall man raised his right hand summoning a dark curved blade to his hand in a puff of smoke, "unfortunately for you I don't make the laws" stated the tall man coldly as he ended the life of the hooded man with a quick slash "three sins and death is required, it is our lords divine will". With a flick of his wrist the blade vanished and the tall man began to collect paper work out of the coat pockets of the recently deceased man when he heard a groan beside him. The man sprawled on the table began to twitch as the tall man slowly rose to his feet, eventually the twitching subsided and the man sat up on the stone table. "Master I believe it was successful this time" said the resurrected man showing a hint of excitement and fear at the same time, "for both our sakes I hope you a right" replied the tall man once again summoning the dark blade. With a powerful yet graceful thrust the tall man impaled the resurrected man in the heart and waited. The stunned victim slowly stood up and removed the blade from his torso as it vanished, "Jashin has truly blessed me and the order with this miracle" exclaimed the man ecstatically as he touched the hole now in his body. The tall man gathered the rest of the documents and led the invincible man outside the dome room with a grin on his face thinking about what was to come, finally the order had succeeded in learning the secrets of immortality that Hidan had learned not four years earlier. With this utter destruction and death will rain down upon the ninja world on a scale that not even the Akatsuki could imagine and Jashin will take its place as the one and only god of this world. His grin widened.
Kenji tried to judge the reactions of Tumo and Shiki to the news by studying there facial expressions as they sat around a small table in a small room lit only by a few candles on a bench nearby. Tumo was pumped of course; the goggles he always wears did little to hide that. Tumo scratched his short brown hair and looked at Shiki obviously trying to figure out her reaction as well, her face said nothing like usual hidden under a hood and a pulled up collar. Kenji never understood why Shiki disliked being looked at; she was a beautiful woman now having just turned seventeen. She had long flowing black hair, flawless facial features and a prefect body although it was always hidden under a blue coat. Tumo certainly never covered up his body, taking of his dull green vest and shirt to show his abs to almost anyone, female or not. Kenji's white robe was Tumo's idea, he thought attire that matched his hair would be awesome and Tumo offered to pay for it so Kenji certainly wasn't going to refuse. Kenji suddenly noticed his friends staring at him and started to gesture an apology, he had been too busy admiring to Shiki and forgot about the conversation. Kenji often had day dreams and his friends knew accepted that, it was good in that he could admire Shiki and not be called out on it. "So I don't know about Shiki but I think we should definitely join the ninja alliance in their war" stated Tumo with enthusiasm, "I can't recall a time when our abilities were really needed until now, we should use out abilities for something truly important for once". "I understand what you are saying but neither of us has fought another ninja since we were children" said Kenji in an understanding manner, "I know we have been training hard for years but we cannot be certain that we are even capable of helping". Tumo banged his hands on the table and began to speak just below a yell "this is all because the council refused to let outsiders visit the village, if they had listened then we would know firsthand how capable we are", Kenji glared at Tumo and also raised his voice just below a yell "and I told you that you are an idiot, my sensei gave his life in order to ensure the barrier that protects this village remained intact, and you think it's okay to let just anyone in, even with all the things that are going on outside the village at the moment"? "I didn't train my entire life to police some small village" yelled Tumo, "I want more, I need more, I deserve more and I will have more". Tumo rose from his chair quickly and stormed out of the room into the frosty street outside leaving Kenji holding his head in his hands and Shiki with a small frown on her face, "I worry about the two of you" said Shiki softly making Kenji wonder if he was meant to of heard it at all "both of you fail to see the situation from each other's perspective". Shiki stood up and also proceeded to exit the room the evening breeze rasping the door as it opened removing the illusion of warmth granted by the candles. Kenji had hoped the peaceful ways of the village hidden in the mind would continue forever but these messages of war from the traders had divided the populace into those who would assist in the war efforts such as Tumo and those like himself who thought it best to leave well enough alone.
The hidden mind village was a small and excluded location hidden to the far western end of the earth country but beyond the jurisdiction of the Tsuchikage, for over a hundred years it had been protected by a type of genjutsu that hid the village in the depth of a mountainous range. The origins of the village are a little sketchy even to the elder citizens, however it is known the village's founder was a ninja who sort to find a place to live in peace. The barrier is believed to have been put in place by the village's founder, but how or why and entire thriving community of a few thousand had been allowed into the village is unknown. The village is almost entirely self-sustaining, food is plentiful with rich soil to grow crops and ample wildlife abound although trade does occur through villagers selected to venture beyond the borders and tell of the events of the outside world. Tumo and Shiki are the first outsiders allowed into the village known to date, taken in as children as orphans it wasn't their presence that worried the villagers but their talent as ninjas. There had only ever been one ninja and one apprentice at any given time in the hidden mind village, but with Tumo and Shiki's introduction and Kenji's sensei's death there were now three young ninja and no elder to guide them. Kenji believed he should take the role of the leader seeing as he was raised for the position but Tumo obviously thought differently. Kenji lay on his bed considering what options he had to deal with the war fast approaching, no one had ever wanted to leave the village before and now almost half of it supported Tumo's cry for war. Would he have to use force to stop Tumo compromising the villages' safety, could he? Kenji knew he used to be stronger than Tumo but hadn't fought him in over three years; Kenji's sensei always used to tell him that he believed his student was a prodigy and would become the greatest ninja the world had ever seen, this was all just for motivation of coarse how could one become the greatest ninja in the world stuck in this village. It suddenly hit Kenji what Tumo was after, the chance for others to recognise his abilities. The villagers certainly appreciated the three ninja's abilities in helping to stop crime, but they didn't understand the complexities of the ninja arts like the outside world did and therefore could not truly understand the extent of their abilities. Kenji's compromise with Tumo that only the both of them take part in the war was accepted as long as the village was not threatened was accepted, however Shiki also demanded to tag along. Within two days their journey to join the ninja alliance began and despite his earlier protests Kenji found himself just as eager as Tumo to show of the techniques he had worked years to perfect.